Jonas Persson

(b. 1968, Sweden)

Kronblom (91:an #15, 2011)

Jonas Persson is a Swedish comics artist, and the third generation of the Persson dynasty to continue the classic comic strip 'Kronblom'.

He was born in 1968 in Örebro. His father was Gunnar Persson, and his grandfather Elov Persson. Elov Persson had created the good-natured but lazy 'Kronblom' in 1927. The character began his career in Allt för Alla, then transferred to Vårt Hem in 1932 and moved to Allers in 1987. Original stories were also published in the comics magazine 91:an, which were drawn by Jonas' father Gunnar Persson since 1967. Jonas Persson had no specific interest in cartooning during his childhood, although he enjoyed reading Hergé's 'Tintin' and of course his father's comics. His initial focus was bodybuilding, and at age 22 he opened his own gym in Örebro.

By the mid 1980s Jonas Persson decided to join the family business. He helped his father anonymously with some scripts and the coloring of 'Kronblom', and later also wrote stories for 91:an's title comic. He also began designing crossword puzzles for newspapers in the 1990s. In 2005 Jonas Persson officially joined the production of 'Kronblom', writing and drawing stories in alternation with his father. Jonas' first story was published in 91:an issue 3 of 2006. In that same year, Jonas was responsible for re-introducing Kronblom's foster child Boris. Gunnar Persson had created the character in 1987, and when he returned to the fictional town of Vinkelboda, he had his own family. Jonas Persson assumed complete control over the comic when his father retired after drawing the character for 43 years in 2010.

Besides his father and grandfather, more members of Jonas Persson's family are active in the comics industry. His uncle Ingvar Persson took over Elov Persson's other series 'Agust och Lotta', and created 'Frid och Fröjd' himself. These were in turn continued by Ingvar's daughter Bia Melin and son Lasse Persson, respectively.